Man Booker Prize Winners & Finalists (2006)
| 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
| 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 | 1988 |
| 1987 | 1986 | 1985 | 1984 | 1983 | 1982 | 1981 | 1980 | 1979 | 1978 |
| 1977 | 1976 | 1975 | 1974 | 1973 | 1972 | 1971 | 1970 | 1969 | |
Planning to read all of the Booker books? Download the TurboBookSnob's Tracking Sheet - it contains a complete list of all of the nominated books, with space to track your progress and comments. |
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| 2006 Winner | ||
| Title/Author | The TurboBookSnob's Comments | |
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The
Inheritance of Loss Publisher: Hamish Hamilton |
This is the story of a retired judge living at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas whose peace is disturbed when his orphaned granddaughter Sai comes to live with him, his cook's son is having immigration problems, and an insurgency in Nepal occurs. Kiran Desai is the daughter of Anita Desai, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fasting, Feasting, The Clear Light of Day, and In Custody. TurboBookSnob Review Coming Soon! |
| 2006 Shortlist | ||
|
by Kate Grenville Publisher: Canongate |
The Secret River, by Kate Grenville, is an historical novel set in the early 1800s in both London and in prisoner colonies in Australia , following the experiences of a family who must move to New South Wales when the father is sentenced for his crimes. Kate Grenville won the Orange Prize in 2001 for her novel, The Idea of Perfection. TurboBookSnob Review Coming Soon! |
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by MJ Hyland Publisher: Canongate |
Carry Me Down is the story of young John Egan, a boy who is obsessed with getting into the Guinness Book of World Records by coming a human lie detector, and of the horrible consequences of his obsession with truth at all costs. The TurboBookSnob thought that this novel was engrossing, but the language didn't awe her. |
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by Hisham Matar Publisher: Viking |
In the Country of Men is the only first novel on the 2006 Booker Longlist. It is set in Libya in 1979, told from the point of a young nine-year-old boy named Suleiman as he struggles to process all of the confusing things going on around him. |
|
Mother's
Milk by Edward St. Aubyn |
Mother's Milk is a wonderfully funny and satirical novel about family relationships, centered around the Melrose family, which was first featured in Aubyn's trilogy Some Hope. |
|
The
Night Watch by Sarah Waters |
The Night Watch is Sarah Waters' first foray out of the Victorian era into another time period, and it showcases her prodigious talent. The novel begins in 1947, and moves backwards in time twice, following the interconnected lives of four people living in London during the Blitz and in the aftermath of WWII. Helen works at a matchmaking agency and lives in secret with her love, the novelist Julia. Viv works with Helen, and strives to maintain a façade of perfection to deflect unwarranted attention into her private life. Kay drives an ambulance and in her off hours, searches the streets of London for potential love affairs. Duncan lives with a man he calls Uncle Horace, whom he shepherds once a week to a faith healer modeled after Mary Baker Eddy. He, too, guards many secrets. |
| 2006 Longlist | ||
|
Theft:
A Love Story Publisher: Faber & Faber |
Peter Carey's new novel, Theft: A Love Story, was released in May 2005 to mixed reviews. It seems as if there is more press surrounding the scandal alleged by his ex-wife, Alison Summers. She feels that the character of “The Plaintiff” in the novel was modeled after her and will turn her grandchildren against her someday. Carey's novel does seem to be more of an ill-directed rant than a well-thought out and beautifully written novel. Still, it seems unlikely that the judges will exclude the two-time Booker Prize winner. |
|
Gathering
the Water Publisher: Doubleday |
Robert Edric's new novel, Gathering the Water, is set in 1847, and is the story of Charles Weightman's attempts to oversee the flooding of the forge valley. Robert Edric was longlisted for the Booker Prize for Peace Time in 2002. |
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by Nadine Gordimer Publisher: Bloomsbury |
Get a Life is the new novel from the Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer. It follows the life of an ecologist in Africa as the man learns that he has thyroid cancer and that the prescribed treatment will make him temporarily radioactive. Nadine Gordimer won the Booker Prize for The Conservationist in 1974, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. TurboBookSnob Review Coming Soon! |
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by Howard Jacobson Publisher: Jonathan Cape |
Kalooki Nights, by Howard Jacobson, is about a man named Max Glickman who is obsessed with the horrors experienced by his family during the Holocaust. As a way of processing this pain, he turns their suffering into cartoons. Howard Jacobson was longlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel Who's Sorry Now in 2002. TurboBookSnob Review Coming Soon! |
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by James Lasdun Publisher: Jonathan Cape |
Seven Lies is James Lasdun's second novel, and is about a young man from East Germany named Stefen Vogel, who marries an American woman to escape his life behind the Berlin Wall. |
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by Mary Lawson Publisher: Chatto & Windus |
This novel from the Canadian author Mary Lawson is about two sons of a farmer living in the Canadian town of Struan was World War II is approaching. Mary Lawson is a relative of L.M. Montgomery, who wrote the children's classic Anne of Green Gables. TurboBookSnob Review Coming Soon! |
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by Jon McGregor Publisher: Bloomsbury |
Jon McGregor's new novel, So Many Ways to Begin, explores the life and loves of a museum curator in Coventry, England. Jon McGregor was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002 for his novel If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things. |
|
Be
Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan |
Andrew O'Hagan's new novel, Be Near Me, tells the poignant and disturbing story of an English priest who takes on a Scottish parish later in life. The priest, perhaps unwisely, befriends several troubled youth of the parish, and as he spends time with them, reflects on his early years in Oxford and Rome. The TurboBookSnob felt that this novel should have won the 2006 Booker Prize hands down. The writing is consistently gorgeous, and the entire book is so beautifully done that it is difficult to put down. |
|
by James Robertson Publisher: Hamish Hamilton |
This novel is the story of a Scottish minister who doesn't believe in God, but pursues a career in the church to satisfy the guilt he feels over the relationship with his father. The story is unfolded when a journalist discovers the minister's written testament. It was hailed by The Times as "Scottish gothic," and has been praised by Irvine Welsh as well. TurboBookSnob Review Coming Soon! |
|
The
Ruby in Her Navel Publisher: Hamish Hamilton |
Barry Unsworth's new novel, The Ruby in Her Navel, examines the war between Islam and Christianity in a story set at the court of King Roger in twelfth century Palermo. Barry Unsworth's novel Sacred Hunger tied with Michael Ondaaatje's The English Patient to win the Booker Prize in 1992 (one of only two ties in the Booker's history). This story of an eighteenth century slave ship is perhaps one of the best MINs (Moral Indignation Novels) ever written. |
| 2006 Judges | ||
Hermione
Lee (Chair), Simon Armitage, Candia McWilliam, Anthony
Quinn, and Fiona Shaw |
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| TurboBookSnob Predictions for 2006 | ||
Which books did the TurboBookSnob think should have made the cut for 2006? Check out her predictions. |
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